Recent Stories

Francois Hollande can't catch a break. He's not only unpopular, but people say he's boring. The answer? A new speechwriter, who is also a rapper. And Pakistanis are buzzing about a new $600 designer shoe that looks a lot like a popular $6 Pakistani sandal. Also, is an Indian guru dead or just in a deep meditation? All that, in today's Global Scan.

Legislators in the state of Victoria have imposed strict new rules on public protesters. Critics say it's an effort to clamp down on long-running protests. In Sri Lanka, it's hard to hold onto an executioner, even though no one has been executed for nearly 40 years. And Caribbean dads fight to be present when their kids are born, in today's Global Scan.

A flag is usually a symbol of national pride. But not necessarily in New Zealand, where voters will get to decide whether to ditch the design that dates to colonial times. And for some reason a Cadillac ad that lauds America's work ethic and paints Europeans as slackers just rubs some Europeans the wrong way. All that and more, in today's Global Scan.

An Islamic extremist group fighting in Syria, known as ISIS, is demanding that non-Muslims in areas they control convert to Islam or pay a "tax" for protection. Syrian Christian pastor Nadim Nassar, living in exile in London, says Syria's Christians are caught "between two fires" — Assad's dictatorship and a fragmented rebellion.